Power setwork for sawmill carriages



'April 24, 1951 u, R, w s 2,550,360

) POWER SETWORK FOR SAWMILL CARRIAGES Filed Nov. 12, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fay. 2

INVENTOR.

U. R. LEWIS POWER SETWORK FOR SAWMILL CARRIAGES April 24, 1951 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 12, 1947 INVENTOR' U/mon/ R.Lewis TORNEY4.

Patented Apr. 24,1951

This invention relates to power-actuated setworks for sawmill carriages, and has for its genconcerned withthe provision of perfected means eralobject the provision of an especially simple andinexpensive apparatus "which is of rugged construction and'which will dependably perform its intended end of advancing" and retractingth'e log-carryi'ngknees offa saw carriages head-block.

,These and other more particular objectsand advantages in view will appear and be understood in the course of the. following description and claims, the invention consistin in the novel' construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

1 Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a sawmill carriage and illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention applied there- Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view. thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken to an enlarged scale online 3 3 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal. vertical sectional view on line 44 ofFig. 1, the scale corresponding to that of Fig. 3; and v Fig. 5 is a fragmentary top plan viewemploying a. yet larger scale and detailin the particular features which essentially constitute the improvemerits of the present invention.

Referring to said drawing, the numeral resents a reciprocally-movable log-carriage mo-, tivated by any suitable means (not shown), and guided in its said reciprocatory movement by wheels I tracking upon rails I2. The framework of: the carriage is indicated as being constituted of laterally spaced longitudinal girders |3--|4 connected by a severalty of transverse tie-beams I5, and there is provided upon opposite ends of the framework the usual transverselyextending head-blocks, as l6 and I1, each of which provides,

a transverse slide-way for the mounting of a respective knee |8. The two knees each carrya;

l0 re rack 20 upon the underside thereof, and there is; V

' journaled upon the framework of the carriage and extending longitudinal to the latter a shaft, 2|

supporting upon its ends spur pinions 22 and 23 in' mesh with the racks. A master set-shaft .24

placed transverse to the carriage drivesthe shaft 2| through intermeshing bevel gears 2526. 7 No of the available devices which are functional to convert rotary motion of the shaft24 to'an end-- wise sliding motion of the .knees l8 and such, for

example, as jack-screw and nut assemblies are or maybe used. The present invention is essentially for imparting to the shaft 24 conversely directed and controlled rotary motion necessary to predeterminately move the knees in relation to the plane of the saw (not shown) both inrespectof the direction and the degree of travel. 1 1 7 According to the present invention, the master set-shaft 24 is caused to projectrearwardly-beyond the carriage and there is made fast to this projected end a winch-drum 30 formed .in its perimeter with a continuous spirally-developed cylinder, and the pressure fluid is fed to suchcylinder through a hose 33 wrapped by its delivery endupon a spring-wound reel 34 and having its other end connected by a suitable coupling 35 with a pipe 36 fixedly attached tothe carriage,

this pipe leading from a control cylinder 31 mounted upon an operators platform 38. A footoperated button 39 actuates a plunger received in this cylinder.

At thel'other extreme of the carriages end'limit of reciprocal travel, the invention provides a pulley 40 journal-mounted in the furcate head of a block 4|, and formed as an integral prolongation of this head is a rod 42 journaled in a bearing 43 for sliding movement along an axis longitudinal to the reciprocal travel of the carriage. The aft end of this rod is threaded, and has applied thereover a spring 44 maintained under compression, against a pull force exerted upon the pulley, by a keeper 45 and backing nut 46.

. Completing my'setworks assembly is anendless cable 41 which passes over the pulley and is given twoor morewraps about each of the winch-drums 30 and 3|, the directional course of the wraps beeing opposite as between thetwo drums and which; is to say that the cableis fed. to the bottom side of the winch-drum 3,0from ;the top side of the: wineh drum 3|, and from-,the bottom side of the. former passes around thepu-lley 40 and thence returns directly to thejbottom side of the winch-5 drum 3|. In compensation of this reverse winding, the two winch-drums are vertically offsetfrom one another toplace the lower limit of the f j 2,550,360 V winch-drum 30 preferably in a horizontal plane coinciding with the upper limit of the winchdrum 3|.

' The operation may be described as follows:

There is produced, principally by the drag load of the log-shifting knees and partly by the friction inherent to the transfer gearing, a resistance sufiicient to normally brake the winch-drum 30, and assuming that the other winch-drum 31 is not braked and is hence free to rotate, a movement of the carriage will then simply localize the cable wraps upon the winch-drum 30 and cause the cable Wraps upon the winch-drum 3| to turn the latter, the cable wraps then working progressively along the grooves of the drum either in one or the other axial direction according as to which direction of reciprocation the carriage is moving. Now, if it is desired to advance or retract the knees, and which is accomplished in the one instance While the carriage travels in one disection and in th other instan wh e the ea riage travels in the pposite d re tion the. operator need only, step on th plunsercontml bu ton and the respo sive rak n of -the Winchdrum :3] localizes the cable wraps upon the latte and the frictionalgrahfloi the cable 12 5 1 causes the winch-drum at to turn whereupon responsive novement istransrn ted throu h he beve g ars and the raek-land-pini n gearin to the knees, the cable being perforce held ina taut conditio y th op ration of the spr g 44. In the lay-out as it is shown in the drawing, an advance of the knees will be made to occur by a braking of the winch-drum 3.! as the carriage moves from left to right in Figs, 1 and 2, and a retraction of the knees will occur by braking the winch-drum as the carr a moves in the opposite stroke of r cip ocation, and name y from r ght to l t- A though ot il ustra d in he draw n there s pr v de upo h carria a uitable scale and markerp rmit ng the operator. to accu at ly re ul te t su cessive t n s of the l g o the cutting of any desired board thicknes 7 While there are presently available a number of very efficient setworks powered by electricity, this form of power is not readily available to a number o o eratin n ls. especial y t ose o the ncreas l o ular portab nature, and the p esent nventio p ovides for thesemills an extremely simple, inexpensive and dependable powe se wo lss requi ing a of parts for t operation and eliminat ng the objectionable featur wh c is common to substan a y all prior mechanical setwork assemblies, of having u ch s and shif in levers mounted upon the carriage. Over and above an increased operating cost consequent to the greater load which the carriage is required to carry when these parts, with necessary bearings, brackets and the like, are so mounted, there is the further objection that the same are usually centralized on or near the operators platform and by interfering with the operators freedom of movement become a hazard to the safety of the operator. It will, of course, be apparent that the present invention adapts itself equally Well to a sawmill in which the operator rides the carriage or one inwhich the setworks-are controlled'from an off-carriage vantage point, the latter type ofinstallation;

b n p rce. even: more simplified than that which 'I have illustrated inasmuch as the hosewinding reel is then eliminated and a fixed length of hose run directly from the off-carriage control platform to the cylinder of the hydraulic brake.

which the employed language fairly permits.

What I claim is:

,1. As a power setworks, and in combination with a reciprocally movable sawmill carriage having a master set-shaft journaled thereon for rotary movement about an axis at right angles to the path of movement of the carriage and providing transversely movable knees operatively inter-connected with the set-shaft to cause the knees to be advanced and retracted by oppositely directed rotation of the set-shaft, a winchdrum fast to the set-shaft, a complementary winch-drum supported for rotary movement about a stationary axis paralleling that of the first-named drum and removed to one side of the latter, a pulley removed to the other side of the first-named drum, and an endless cable. having multiple wraps taken about the second-named drum and passing therefrom to and about the pulley and in its return run having multiple wraps taken about the first-named drum, means being provided for braking the second-named drum at will.

2. The setworks of claim 1 characterized in that the winch-drums are each formed in their perimeter with a continuous spirally developed groove guiding the multiple wraps of the cable and, position considered, serving to maintain a constant correlation as between the cable wraps and the knees, the overall span of said grooves compensating the wraps to an endwise movement upon the drums relatively in correspondence with the overall travel of the knees.

3. The setworks of claim 1 in which the brake is hydraulically operated, and having operating connection from the carriage to saidbrake.

4. As a power setworks, and in combination with a reciprocally movable sawmill carriage having a master set-shaft journaled thereon for rotary movement about a transverse horizontal axis and providing transversely movable knees powered from the set-shaft to cause the knees to be advanced and retracted by oppositely directed rotary movements of the set-shaft, said setshaft projecting rearwardly beyond the carriage, a Winch-drum fast to said rear projection of the shaft, a second winch-drum occupying a position beyond the first drums end limit of travel in one direction of the carria-ges reciprocatory movement and journaled for rotation about a stationary axis paralleling the rotary axis of the first drum, means'for' braking said second drum at will, a pulley supported to occupy a position beyond the first drums end limit of travel in the other direction of the carriages reciprocatory movement, and an endless cable having multiple wraps-taken about the second drum and passing therefrom to and about the pulley and in its return run having multiple wraps taken about the first drum.

5. As a power setworks, and in combination with a reciprocally movable sawmill carriage having a master set-shaft journaled thereon for rotary movement about a transverse horizontal axis and providing transversely movable knees powered from the set-shaft to cause the knees to be advanced and retracted by oppositely directed rotary movements of the set-shaft, said set-shaft projecting rearwardly beyond the carriage, a

winch-drum fast to said rear projection of the shaft, a second winch-drum occupying a position beyond the first drums end limit of travel in one direction of the carriages reciprocatory move ment and journaled for rotation about a stationary axis paralleling the rotary axis of the first drum, means for braking said second drum at will, a pulley supported to occupy a position beyond the first drums end limit of travel in the other direction of the carriages reciprocatory movement, and an endless cable having multiple wraps taken about the second drum and passing therefrom to and about the pulley and in its return run having multiple wraps taken about the first drum, said winch-drums being each formed in their perimeter with a continuous spirally developed roove for guiding the cable in the latters endwise movement upon the drum.

6. The power setWorks of claim 5 in which said pulley is carried by a block and with the block being journaled for slide movement on an axis paralleling the reciprocal path travelled by the carriage, means being provided subjecting said block to a sprin load yieldingly urging the block directively from the drums.

7. As a power setworks, and in combination with a reciprocally movable sawmill carriage having a master set-shaft journaled thereon for roaxis and providing transversely movable knees powered from the set-shaft to cause the knees to be advanced and retracted by oppositely directed rotary movements of the set-shaft, said set-shaft projecting rearwardly beyond the carriage, a

winch-drum fast to said rear projection of the shaft, a second rotatively mounted winch-drum located beyond the first drums end limit of travel as the latter moves with the carriage in one direction of the latters reciprocation and stationed to occupy a plane off-set from the horizontal plane occupied by the first drum, hydraulically actuated means for braking said second drum at will, a pulley stationed to lie in substantial horizontal alignment with the second drum beyond the first drums end limit of movement in the other direction of reciprocal travel, and an endless cable having multiple wraps taken about the second drum and passing therefrom directly to and about the pulley and in its return having multiple wraps taken about the first drum but in a direction opposite to the direction in which the cable is wrapped about the second drum.

ULMONT R. LEWIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number l Name Date 578,928 Inman Mar. 16, 1897 1,582,908 Drouet May 4, 1926 1,899,448 Tufts Feb. 28, 1933 

